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Szymon’s Story

Szymon is our second son. He’s loved, surrounded by loving family who takes very good care of him, extremely talented, extremely smart (We know, all parents say that about their children :-) ) and handsome after his dad :-).

He has only one fault - a congenital heart defect, which means that his heart is not built as it should be...

He was born on 13th December 2007 with a complex congenital heart disease, which means that one of the four heart valves - aortic valve - is not properly built. In Simon’s case it was almost overgrown. We were lucky that the defect was diagnosed at 29th weeks pregnant. Furthermore Szymon had this chance to be born in a specialized center - ICZMP in Łódz, where straight from the belly he went into the hands of the best cardiologists. The first operation he went through during first day of his life. The second - in the 7th day of life and the third when he was 2,5 months old. Unfortunately, all three operations have not helped. Szymon’s condition was getting worse. Cardiac surgeons decided to carry out a very risky and radical surgery. It consisted in the removal of the diseased aortic valve and transplantation in its place his own pulmonary valve and after that - implantation of bioprosthetic valve (porcine) in place of "displaced" pulmonary embolism. Szymon was 3,5 months. Thanks to this operation he’s alive.

Unfortunately, the biological valve, which was implanted doesn’t grow with the child and “wears out” after few years. Then, next replacement is necessary. Replacements may be several. It depends on how quickly, the one he has wears out or how quickly a child will grow up. When the heart reaches maturity can artificial valve be implanted.

So there are a few more operations waiting for Szymon. On the control in Łódz, 5th October 2009, the doctor estimated that the first replacement should take place before going to primary school (within the next 2-3 years).

The first place for reoperation we thought about is of course Łódz. But we know how long queue of children is waiting for the heart surgery. We don’t want Szymon to be operated on at the very last moment, when he is already in a bad condition. Then, chances of success diminish significantly!

Therefore, we are considering seriously an operation abroad, if there is no possibility of its implementation in Poland within a specified period. These surgeries are carried out in Germany and Belgium and the cost reaches 30-35 thousand euro. This amount is too much for us, so we decided to ask for help.

Szymon is the charge of the Polish Foundation "Help on Time"(Polish name: Fundacja Dzieciom "Zdążyć z pomocą", http://www.dzieciom.pl/7789). The Foundation has created an account specially for us, where we can collect money from everyone who wants to help Szymon. The Foundation shall pay us the amount we need only upon presentation of invoices, receipts and relevant documents from hospitals.

We have great hopes that by the time remaining to the operation, we will collect the required amount. All collected funds will be used to finance the surgery abroad, to buy medicines, to all needed controls and medical appointments and of course rehabilitation. You can be sure that your money will be used only on what is the most important and necessary for Szymon’s health.